Conservative radio host Glenn Beck is walking back doubts he expressed Monday that Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz might not be able to “govern” effectively should he make it to the White House.
In an online announcement Tuesday, the popular talker and founder of The Blaze blamed the media for suggesting his comments showed disapproval of Cruz.
On his show Monday, Beck evaluated some of the candidates or potential candidates for president on the GOP side.
“We are looking at unbelievable times ahead of us,” Beck said. “And I would say on this, I’m not sure [Cruz] could get the coalition together. He’ll be a bulldog and he’ll stand for principles but I’m not sure that he could govern. I’m not sure yet.”
One of Beck’s co-hosts asked how Cruz compared to former president Ronald Reagan.
“Reagan had charm,” Beck said. “He had charm.”
By contrast, Beck said of former Hewlett-Packard CEO Cary Fiorina, “She could govern.”
The remarks were somewhat of a departure in tone from his previous statements about Cruz.
After Cruz announced his candidacy for the White House in late March, Beck said on his show that he had spoken with Cruz on the phone about the announcement beforehand. “In this conversation he told me that he had spent about two hours with his children and his wife in prayer, making the final decision this week,” Beck said at the time. “And I have to tell you, that means the world to me, and I think a lot of Americans.”
Beck posted a note to his website Tuesday that reiterated his earlier support and faulted the news media for misinterpreting his commentary.
“As we were discussing the challenges for Cruz and others, I mentioned that Cruz might have a tough time putting together a coalition because of all the work the media and politicians on the Left and Right have done vilifying him,” Beck wrote. “The way I tried to poorly summarize that was to say that ‘I’m not sure he could govern.’ Of course, the media has jumped all over that as if Vladimir Putin just came out as anti-Russia.”
Beck went on to say he intended to compare Cruz’s political strategy — he’s known in the Senate for his hardline, unilateral tactics to prevent the passage of legislation he doesn’t like — to former president George W. Bush. “Executing the nation’s [sic] ‘policy, actions and affairs’ as the dictionary definition reads is something I consider Ted Cruz to be quite capable of,” he wrote. “Avoiding George W. Bush type ‘coalitions’ is precisely why I like him.”
A communications aide to Cruz’s campaign told the Washington Examiner media desk that Beck “was really upset about how his words were taken.” Asked how Cruz felt about them, the aide said he “didn’t get a chance to talk to him.”
